asked the Minister for Local Government if he will give an extra allocation to Mayo County Council for the black topping of green roads, in view of the large mileage of untarred roads yet to be dealt with.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Mayo Roads.
13.
A general grant allocation of £374,410 has been made to Mayo County Council for the improvement and upkeep of main roads, other than national roads, and for the improvement of county roads. In addition a special grant of £40,000 has been notified to the county council for the improvement of the Belmullet-Ballyglass county road. I regret that the total moneys available to me for the Road Fund Grants do not permit of an additional grant for the purpose requested.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that there are 1,500 miles of untarred roads in County Mayo to be done and that there is not a hope in the next 20 years of these green roads being completed if a special grant is not provided? Could he say whether, at this stage, under the EEC regional policy, there will be the possibility of an extra grant from the EEC to give the people there tarred roads?
There was a substantial increase of £88,000 this year, and if county roads in Mayo are not being black-topped, it is due to the engineering policy of that county. If the county engineer was prepared to act as other county engineers and do the county roads instead of major extensions the situation in County Mayo would not be as it is.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that, due to the poor surface of roads in County Mayo, it costs a lot more money to tar a mile of road than it does in the eastern counties, and that the cost of constructing those roads is double the cost in any other part of Ireland. On that basis, we are entitled to an increased allocation.
Will the Parliamentary Secretary ask the Minister to consider allocating 15 per cent of the main road grant to Mayo County Council for the purpose of black-topping these green roads?
The grant was given as a block grant and the council has discretion in deciding how the grant should be used.
Could I ask the Parliamentary Secretary if he will be honest with Deputy Finn and inform him that the bulk of the moneys provided under the Local Improvements Scheme are being expended on roads in the Minister's and the Parliamentary Secretary's constituencies and that, so far as the Government are concerned, it is a case of "To hell with Connacht"?
I will ignore the Deputy's comments.
Look up the allocations and you will see where the moneys went.